Tokyo’s teamLab Borderless brings its digital world to Saudi Arabia

In Jeddah, the teamLab Borderless museum comprises over 80 digitally-created artworks that transcend boundaries and is composed of multiple seamlessly interconnected areas. Photo: teamLab Borderless Jeddah

TeamLab Borderless Jeddah, a "museum without a map," opened on June 10 in Jeddah Historic District, a collaboration between the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Tokyo-based art collective teamLab.

Spanning approximately 10,000sq m of gross floor area, the museum is the Middle East’s first-ever teamLab Borderless to be permanently established on the shores of Alarbaeen Lagoon, overlooking the panoramic views of Jeddah, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

"Our artworks are based on the continuity of knowledge over the long history of humanity. For this reason, it is very significant to be able to establish a large-scale teamLab Borderless in historic Jeddah," said teamLab Founder, Toshiyuki Inoko in a statement.

Saudi Ministry of Culture spokesperson Abdulrahman Almotawa sees teamLab Borderless Jeddah as a hub for exploring creativity and bridging the Kingdom’s heritage with contemporary art. Photo: teamLab Borderless Jeddah

"Through Jeddah and teamLab Borderless, we want to make this place the most amazing place in the world, creating an experience where people travel between the seamlessly interconnected past and present, and feel a strong sense of meaning,” he added.

Meanwhile, Saudi Ministry of Culture official spokesperson, Abdulrahman Almotawa said: "We envisage teamLab Borderless Jeddah as a dynamic meeting point, where visitors can explore uncharted territories of creativity and engage in a dialogue that bridges the Kingdom’s rich heritage with contemporary artistic discourse.”

The Middle East's first permanent teamLab Borderless museum has opened in Jeddah's Alarbaeen Lagoon. Photo: teamLab Borderless Jeddah

TeamLab Borderless Jeddah is one of Saudi Arabia’s "Quality of Life Programme" initiatives to develop and foster cultural and arts exhibition infrastructure, with the aim of strengthening the Kingdom’s contribution to arts and culture, one of the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.

The Jeddah’s museum comprises over 80 digitally-created artworks that transcend boundaries and is composed of multiple seamlessly interconnected areas, namely, Borderless World, Light Sculpture, Athletics Forest, Future Park, Forest of Lamps, EN TEA HOUSE, and Sketch Factory.

Created by teamLab, teamLab Borderless is a world of artworks without boundaries, forming one continuous borderless world, whereby visitors will be able to ‘wander, explore, and discover’, immersing their body in this borderless art.